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Show ) Page A8 Wednesday, November 25, 1981 The Newspaper Health wars Huntsman-Christensen Real Estate C5 x DEO v1 JsN "rex q , 2 CLOSET Ol R tjlf) uvnghtxm ''N ' " ' I BEDROOM La J Appro 2,200 sq ft upper floor jw MAM FLOOR PLAN LOW FLOOR PLAM Deer Valley Aspenwood Condominium No. 9. 2,200 sq. ft., 3 bedroom3 bath. Immediate Occupancy. Contact: John Vrabel, 649-7220. Both sides want to bury hatchet, but disagreement remains In the wake of last week's confrontation between Summit County Health Director Frank Singleton and the health board, both sides are saying they want to put the issue behind them. But both sides also refuse to give in on the issues they consider important. It is the latest chapter in a dispute which arose when Singleton discharged health inspector Bob Reschke over the handling han-dling of a food seminar last October. Dr. Robert Winn, a member mem-ber of the board, said the panel has the right to ask tough questions and review the director's conduct. "We were given the charge early on to examine all health-related health-related matters in the coun-related coun-related matters in the county." Singleton responded that the health board did not have the expertise to judge the effectiveness ef-fectiveness of the food seminar and his conduct toward it. He also said that board members Dr. Winn and Teri Gomes influenced the other members to pass a resolution against him at the Nov. 17 meeting in Coalville. The resolution itself has caused some debate. It is important to remember, Dr. Winn told The Newspaper, that the resolution does not condemn Singleton as1 an administrator and did not deny his right to hire and fire. The resolution commends com-mends Singleton for much of his work. "That was important impor-tant for us to say we still support sup-port him," said board member mem-ber Juanita Stembridge. The most important thing the board asked for was Singleton's apology for remarks he made concer ning Reschke and board member Gomes, according to Dr. Winn. The remarks seem to boil down to three allegations. 1) Singleton said Reschke had created a conflict of interest in-terest by forming a restaurant consulting company, com-pany, D Ita Plus & Associate; , while still working .a a government employee. According to health board officials, Singleton made an unproven statement that Reschke was passing out Delta's business card at the seminar. The health director said he never made that statement, but instead charged one of Reschke's partners with passing out cards. "If I said otherwise, I misspoke myself," said Singleton. "But the issue of the cards is trivial." The company in itself it-self is a conflict. "The existence of Delta was offensive offen-sive to me." 2) The seminar was a poor educational experience, said Singleton. In response to that, Reschke produced 27 favorable evaluation forms for the board at the Nov. 17 meeting, in contrast to four unfavorable evaluations from Singleton. "That certainly cer-tainly isn't as negative as we had been led to believe," said Dr. Winn. Singleton responded, "It looks to me like most of the favorable reports and I never saw any of them until that night were from food handlers." The negative reports, on the other hand, were from health professionals. "Certain areas of the event were good. But most of the health professionals at the seminar The Difference. Personal, Professional Service. Real Estate (801)649-1602 586 Main Street, P.O. Box 3121, Park City, Utah 84060. were ticked off, and didn't fill out reports," he said. By discounting the opinions of the professionals, the board showed it was lacking in expertise, said Singleton. But Dr. Winn said, "If we don't have the expertise or the knowledge, why even have the board?" 3) Dr. Singleton charged in a KPCW radio interview that Gomes used her position on the board to pressure Reschke into using the "Regards to Broadway" revue, directed by Don Gomes, as entertainment for the seminar, according to Winn. The charge was denied by both Reschke and Gomes at the board meeting of the 17th. Singleton said, "If I misunderstood what Teri said, I owe her an apology, but my distinct recollection is that she said she got in touch with Reschke." Nancy Chartier, head nurse nur-se for Summit County, agreed. "I recall that at one board meeting, Teri said she had contacted Reschke, but she did it no differently than she would any other meeting group coming into town. She didn't use pressure or multiple phone calls on him. But I think to Frank, 'coercion' 'coer-cion' doesn't just mean physical or verbal harassment. harass-ment. To him, it's also being in a position of influence." The health board's resolution also called for Singleton to make out a letter let-ter of recommendation for Reschke, to be reviewed by the board. They also said the county should receive a final account of seminar expenses, expen-ses, and, since Reschke paid for much of the deficit with his own money, the county should offer to pay him back. "The last I heard he didn't want to have the money," said Dr. Winn. These two conditions are not problems for the health director. "The bills are a decision for the County commissioners, and I already said I would send them a recommendation." Singleton has said the board was influenced by Dr. Winn and Gomes to pass the resolution. But the board members disagree. "The motion was really a shared thing," said Gomes. "The other members felt strongly about the apology and the recommendation. And not one ounce of it was prepared beforehand." "Everybody had input," said Stembridge. Another board member, Lewis Mar-chant, Mar-chant, said, - "Our board came together as a group that night. We didn't feel the motion should be negative, and we support Mr. Singleton, but we thought he should have kept closer track of the seminar, and we wanted to get that point across to him." A final issue in the resolution was Singleton's remarks about the health board itself. The board's motion on the 17th chided the health director because he referred to the board in a KPCW interview as "trained seals." A few days after that, Singleton was interviewed again on KPCW by newsman Blair Feulner and said the "trained seals" remark was an analogy. But he could see why it bothered them, he continued, "because it's true." "Frank is setting up a war zone," said Gomes. But Singleton is also talking about reconciliation. He said he plans to study the written copy of the board's resolution before he says anything further about it. The board's motion said the controversy should be put behind them, and Singleton said he agrees 100 percent. "I am listening to the board and I am not trying tc quarrel with them." Will the slopes open for Thanksgiving? At this writing, it is Tuesday afternoon, and the local weathermen are predicting pre-dicting that "The Big One" is on its way. The Big One, of course, is the snowstorm that will color the ground white and merchant's mer-chant's pockets green when visitors flow into town. According to the prognos-ticators, prognos-ticators, the entire western U.S. is right in the path of a major storm that simply can't miss us. We've heard that one before. But if their predictions are true, there just may be enough snow before Thanks giving to open the slopes at the Park City Ski Area. "We'll open as soon as we can," said Robbie Lynn Beck of the Marketing Department. Depart-ment. "If enough snow falls and we can pack the slopes, we'll open. We're on 24-hour call now to get the ski area in full operation." Beck said that as of Tuesday, Tues-day, there were 18 inches of snow at the summit of the mountain. There has been enough snow in the last week, she said, to get the snowcats out to pack the runs. Plus, temperatures were low enough last week that manmade snow was sprayed over the Claimjum-per Claimjum-per and Clementine runs. "It looks like we have an excellent base," said Beck. "We're real excited. I wouldn't want to say just how much more we'll need to open up, but I don't think it will take feet." If the snow comes as predicted, will the Resort try to open for Thanksgiving? "You bet!" Beck said enthusiastically. "Right now the top of the mountain looks good to open first We'll open whatever we can as soon as we can." Keep your ski tips crossed ! School board considers budget revisions The proposed payment schedule covering the sale of the Marsac School and an unusually small increase in enrollment this fall have forced the Park City Board of Education to take another look at this year's budget. According to School Superintendent Super-intendent Richard Good-worth, Good-worth, the board had counted on $1,250,000 in revenues from the sale of the Marsac during the current fiscal year to help pay for the construction of the new middle school. However, judging from the negotiations negotia-tions now underway with the city, he said it could take as long as two years before the district is completely repaid. Goodworth said that the city has made two proposals on the Marsac School: one would pay the district $1 million, with half paid immediately and the other half on July 1; the other proposal calls for the city to pay the district $1.35 million spread over a two-year period. Either plan would not put as much money into the district's coffers during the current fiscal year as had been expected. The other culprit is the 4.39 percent increase in school enrollment. According to Goodworth, the increase in enrollment over the past four years has averaged 9.19 percent. This year's budget anticipated an increase of 8 percent. Goodworth said the smaller-than-expected increase in-crease will mean about $60,000 less from the state than had been budgeted. He indicated that the board would also consider reopening the food service budget, which is now about $35,000 in the red. "The law requires that we come out (of debt) by 10 percent a year." He said the board would be given a revised food service budget calling for that deficit to be reduced by about 15 percent per year. Proposed revisions to the Summit County Charter will be debated at a public meeting in the Memorial Building, Thursday, Dec. 3 at 7 p. nr. Your attendance is encouraged.. TEXAS RED'S PIT BARBECUE New lunch menu 1 AT THE PUBLIC HOUSE BARBECUE RIBS SANDWICHES CHILI & GIANT BURGERS . 11:30-10:00, seven days a week. 440 Main Street. 649-9997 649-6993 |